Help with bike selection please

Hi

I'm new here and just coming back to riding dirt bikes after 11 years without one. Stayed active on quads, and the street though. The last bike I owned and rode was a KX250 2 stroke.

Looking to get a dual sport and was all set to plunk down the $ for a DRZ400. Had read several reviews for the WRR and it wasn't treated very well. However here and on TT I find that contrary to what the rags say, this liitle bike could be what I am looking for.

I am 6 foot, 188 pounds, 49 years old and my riding will trails in the Idaho/Oregon mountains and non freeway street riding. No racing, but love woods riding.

HELP with the 2 different bikes. I am really becoming a fan of the WRR!
Thanks!!!!

Thank you for helping a returner!!

Gary
Boise, Idaho

grbullock6721 wrote:

Looking to get a dual sport and was all set to plunk down the $ for a DRZ400. Had read several reviews for the WRR and it wasn't treated very well. However here and on TT I find that contrary to what the rags say, this liitle bike could be what I am looking for.

I am 6 foot, 188 pounds, 49 years old and my riding will trails in the Idaho/Oregon mountains and non freeway street riding. No racing, but love woods riding.

HELP with the 2 different bikes. I am really becoming a fan of the WRR!

This is so predictable, but... buy the WRR. No, I haven't ridden a DRZ... so does that make me a schmuck or what?

In reality, what you SHOULD be doing is taking both for a very short test drive, even if it is just down to the end of the block and back. What one guy likes, the next guy thinks is pretty average.

I suspect that you will find the WRR more nimble and find that extra gear a worthwhile point in it's favour as well. Fuel injection won't make you cry either, probably. There have been several posts from people who went from the DRZ to the WRR, but I haven't seen one yet of somebody abandoning the WRR for the DRZ.

I came back to dirt in my 50's, also from two strokes. The biggest thing for me was getting used to riding a four stroke. For me, it did take some time to making that transition from being used to being on a two stroke MX'er on the pipe all the time, to using the four stroke motor as it should be. Don't think it would have mattered what brand of thumper I had settled on. A few days and I had it figured out.

I weigh 200 and ride in the mountains of Montana and SE British Columbia. I haven't found anything yet in using it for that purpose to disappoint me. I am not at WFO all the time, however; those who confess to being disappointed in the WRR usually seem to come from the racing/high speed, low drag ranks, so it does indeed have a lot to do with your riding style as well as where you ride.

I've ridden the DRZ400, on the road, trails, and MX track. It feels far heavier than the WR. WR handles better. DRZ may be quicker, but the WR sure corners quicker.

Get the WR.

I'm a long-time rider but new to dirt. In fact, with winter in full swing here I still haven't done much dirt. I chose the WR250R for the following (major) reasons:

1.FUEL INJECTION! I'm done with carbs. For a wide variation in temps and/or altitudes, FI cannot be beat. No choke! Plus, when you drop it, no carb vents to leak fuel.
2.Light weight. You dirt guys may raise your eyebrows over this one but for a street ride it is VERY light.
3.Low cost. At least, for what you get. Price the European hardware to see what I mean.
4.Accessories. I looked at what is available from the major DS vendors. Although newer than the DRZ or others, a fair amount of hardware is available, almost as much as for the others.
5.Fantastic gas mileage. I guess you would expect this for a 250 but, for the power this thing puts out, it's still amazing. I commute on mine as well, so that's important to me.
6.Specific to the DRZ, I've seen numerous references to problems such as very tender engine cases and/or side covers and other components that were not very stout. Also, the WR suspension has been judged superior to the DRZ by most people that have had experience with both bikes.
7.Oh yeah, I almost forgot: a 6th gear overdrive! For the street, this is huge.

I'm 5'8" and 185 lbs., 56 YO (tomorrow!) with a 31" inseam. For me, it's tall but I wanted the ground clearance. The DRZ is about the same. The seats, comfort-wise, are about the same, although some have said the Suzuki seats are harder. Anyway, that was what I used for criteria for my WR250R purchase. As always, YMMV!

I've owned a 2009 DR-Z400SM, a 2008 WR-250R, and now have a 2008 WR-250X.
My immediate thoughts:

In my opinion, the Yamahas are built a bit better.
Not to the point where the Suzuki seems like a cheap Chinese bike, but, if you hang around the DR-Z forums over at ThumperTalk, you'll be told by most of the regulars that you'd better do this, that, and the other thing to your brand-new DR-Z, or else you're risking a failure that will stop the engine from running while it's running, resulting in bits of metal being bent, ground off, and broken off.

I personally don't think it's quite that bad, but, the few that have had automatic cam chain tensioners loosen-up, starter driven gear mounting bolts back out and grind into the stator, the big nut on the right-hand end of the crankshaft securing the primary drive gears (gears that drive the clutch, water pump, and cam chain) loosen up, and the nut securing the generator rotor loosen-up are quite vocal and will make it sound like these are must-dos.

Other than that, it's just a classic case of a 250cc bike vs. a 400cc bike.
Both are choked-up with insane EPA regs that snuff performance, and both have forums (like this one) that tell you how to solve that.
Both need a dechoking in my opinion, and when both are stock, both feel wheezy, plugged-up, lean, and with the WR-250R, waaaaaaay overgeared with a rediculously small 43-tooth rear sprocket (which is another EPA regulation related to drive-by noise, believe it or not).
I ran 12/47 sprockets on my WR-250R, and it felt like something I'd wished the bike came stock with - mucho better at everything, particularly acceleration.
Who doesn't like acceleration? :)

Once uncorked and both are running as they can, it's basically the DR-Z having more power and torque (most noticable at very low RPM) while feeling a bit heavier and longer, with the WR-250R having more top end power and revs and feeling smaller and more manouverable.
Simple as that.
Powerwise, the DR-Z will not run away and hide from the WR-250R as long as you rev the WR-250R engine into the meat of it's powerband, something you simply will have to do since it's 150cc smaller.
That's a simple fact of life.
That's not only not a problem, but it's fun to do.

The 5-speed of the DR-Z is a mistake, in my opinion, and the only reason the Suzuki factory used it was to save money, since the street-going DR-Z is based on the off-road DR-Z.
When in 5th gear, you are well aware that the DR-Z could easily pull a 6th gear, and, it basically feels like a 6th gear was left off.

The 6-speed of the WR is very good, and because of this, it takes much better to street cruising.
In fact, with my 12/47 sprockets, my corrected speedo still showed an 84 mph top speed.
I typically cruised between 55-70 mph, day-in, day-out.

Off-road, I never rode the DR-Z400SM there, but I did the WR-250R a fair bit.
The general feel in the dirt is good once you mount knobby tires and make sure the rear sag is set for 3.5 inches with your weight in the seat.
The gripe I had with mine, though, is that, in typical dual-purpose bike fashion, the suspension felt second-rate, especially if you come from off-road-only bikes that have better suspension.
It's OK for relaxed trail riding, but if you want to actually stand on the pegs once in a while while trail riding or play at motocross, you'll probably feel the same way.

Luckily, Go Race suspension (member of these forums) knows the bike and can fix 'er up if you want it so.
In fact, the rear shock on my new-to-me WR-250X was already leaking shock oil onto it's shaft with 3,911 miles on the bike.
So, I sent the shock in to Travis at Go Race and had him do his rebuild/revalve.

The above posters offered some pretty solid responses, and not too biased given the forum.
As a 6' tall, 50+ YO, returning to off road riding, I was right there with you. It came down to the DRZ400 and the WR250R. I was ready to buy which ever became available in my price range and I'm sure I would have been happy with the DRZ had it gone that way. That said, I have zero regrets with the WR250R. It's easily taken me everywhere I want to ride and accommodates my skills with room to spare. I've spent plenty of money to personalize, accessorize, and gear up for dirt riding, but not a nickel on repairs.

I could have ridden my V-Strom 650 to work today like I usually do, but I had a hankerin' for the dirt detour, so the 250 got the nod...again

Good luck with your decision.

Thanks for everyone that gave me their input on my WRR vs. DRZ question. I found that the dealerships aren't very accomadating when you ask to ride something, I guess they thought I was going to steal it.
Anyway got to ride the WRR, the DRZ400S, a DR650SE, and a BMW G450X.
Short rides but here is what I thought:

1) The DRZ400 felt like my old XR500 Honda, heavy, smooth power, high geared, lean etc

2) The 650 is way too heavy,top heavy at that for what I want to do. No way

3) The BMW was amazing, tons of power, light weight, smooth, expensive and they appear to be high maintenance and expensive to maintain. Sweet motor though. Don't hear much good about the reliability, but man does the dealer want to sell it BAD!

4) The WRR felt about a 100# lighter than what I know it to way. Excellent build quality, smooth power. I read no low end power, but compared to the KX it has tons!!!! Really liked the feel of it, and looks wise has the DRZ beat in my book.

Thanks again for the help, I will be a new WRR owner here shortly.

I have no real time on the Suzuki. Just a buddies for a short hop. But I will say this about my WRR............My Harley sits a lot these days because I have so much fun on the Yamaha. It may not be up to todays "race" standards. (Wasn't marketed as such anyway). But if you grew up in the 60s/70s this thing is so light years ahead of old bikes it might as well be a works racer. I won't try to convince anybody here I'm the best rider around. But I've been around for a long time. And ridden since I was a kid. These little bikes are true engineering marvels.

I asked myself the same questions. What decided me for the WR is it's ability on the road with it's 6th speed, the valve adjustment intervals and the alternator.

When trails are coming the WR is better in tight trails where you have to deal with turns around tree, rocks and anything that needs quick change of direction. This is not to say the DRZ is not good in these situations, the WR is just better. For trails that are fast running with curves that we steer with the end of the bike instad of the front, the DRZ torque at low RPM helps getting out of the curves with more ease.

One must also consider if he will mostly ride where his bike is at it's best. One bike might be superior in certain situations. Like the FI, it's good if you change altitude often or if you start your bike in the cold.

And it is not surprising that are so much suggestions about the DRZ on the net. It's been there for many years and people liked it so much that they tried everything to make it even better. That will come for the WR if it's production isn't stopped to early.

I like to compare the WR with the KLR instead of the DRZ. With the KLR you must compromise agility in the trail to get a fair ride on the road. With the WR you make a compromise on the road speed to have fun in the trails.

At the end there is two dreams. A DRZ with a 6th gear , bigger alternator and FI or a 400cc WR.

It really depends on what you're looking for, but a friend of mine was looking for a good all around, low maintenance, fun to ride dual sport. He had test ridden a XR650, DRZ400, KLX250 and even a Husky TE250 (all dual sport versions) that different people had. He asked to try mine out and he ended up buying a 2010 WR250R after riding it.

Dancamp wrote:

I asked myself the same questions. What decided me for the WR is it's ability on the road with it's 6th speed, the valve adjustment intervals and the alternator.

Good point on the alternator which I forgot to mention in my earlier post. I run Tourmaster heated gloves along with a heated jacket for the winter commute. On my Triumph the lights would sometimes dim under the load when stopped at an intersection (engine at idle). There is no dimming on the WR250R. This machine absolutely ROCKS!

I had a DRZ for several years and now have the WRR. Here in the mountains the EFI is a godsent. I liked the DRZ a little better on the highway but that's about it (I'm running 13/50).
A slight advantage of the DRZ is that it is a little simpler (no fuel pump, less elctronics). But I would not go back.

If you get on Adventure rider and read the forum for a KTM 690;DRZ400;KLR 650 etc.,etc. you will find post after post talking about a problem with this or that or how do I fix this or If you don't replace this with the new one it will break...etc. Now get on the WR250 thread at 1291 pages so far. NADA!!!

Thanks to all who replied to my post about helping me choose between the DRZ and the WRR. I picked up my new WRR yesterday and very pleased with the machine. Love how light it feels compared to the DRZ.

Ok, so I have read about all the mods everyone has done, I am wondering what are the most important ones, best bang for the buck so to speak.

Also, I would like to change the gearing. My street riding is going to be 95% secondary roads at 55MPH and in town commuting. It feels like I need to lower the gearing.

Thanks for the help!!!!!

grbullock6721 wrote:

Ok, so I have read about all the mods everyone has done, I am wondering what are the most important ones, best bang for the buck so to speak.

*FMF Power Programmer or equivalent device.
Like with a carburetor-equipped bike, regulations the bike must meet make the throttle response crummy in comparison to how it is after you install one of these.

*Eliminate the airbox inlet flapper.

Those are the first two I'd do, besides gearing the bike down.

Also:

*Remove the AIS parts.
A kit to do this is about $25.

*Install an FMF Q4 muffler.
Also an FMF Powerbomb head pipe if you have the money.

grbullock6721 wrote:

Also, I would like to change the gearing. My street riding is going to be 95% secondary roads at 55MPH and in town commuting. It feels like I need to lower the gearing.

I used 12/47 sprockets and the bike felt much better.
Requires a 110 link chain.

grbullock6721 wrote:

Also, I would like to change the gearing. My street riding is going to be 95% secondary roads at 55MPH and in town commuting. It feels like I need to lower the gearing.

Thanks for the help!!!!!

You are also at altitude so I recommend 13/50. You'll need a 112 link chain. Speedo will be 20% fast after that. I fixed that with a spoedoDRD.
https://www.motomummy.com/store/product.php?productid=18212&cat=255&page=1

grbullock6721 wrote:

Hi

I'm new here and just coming back to riding dirt bikes after 11 years without one. Stayed active on quads, and the street though. The last bike I owned and rode was a KX250 2 stroke.

Looking to get a dual sport and was all set to plunk down the $ for a DRZ400. Had read several reviews for the WRR and it wasn't treated very well. However here and on TT I find that contrary to what the rags say, this liitle bike could be what I am looking for.

I am 6 foot, 188 pounds, 49 years old and my riding will trails in the Idaho/Oregon mountains and non freeway street riding. No racing, but love woods riding.

HELP with the 2 different bikes. I am really becoming a fan of the WRR!
Thanks!!!!

Thank you for helping a returner!!

Gary
Boise, Idaho

There are always dealers up in the northern states selling WRs and KLRs on ebay brand new. I got mine from OHIO for 4,000 dollars new. Just keep looking and it will show up.